A printed, bound book of a parent's life is one of the most meaningful gifts a family can give — and it's more reachable than most people think. You don't need to write it, and you don't need to design it. You need to capture the memories and let the rest take shape. Here's how the whole thing comes together.
Start with the memories themselves, not a book. In short sessions, help your parent tell the stories — the process is gentler than it looks. In the Lifestream web app, your parent speaks and the app writes it down; you attach the photos that go with each memory. The person being recorded is the subject, so it's their story in their own words.
You don't sort anything. Entries flow into a chronological timeline of chapters by date and theme — childhood, family, work, and beyond. Over time you have a complete, structured record of a life, with photos anchored to the moments they belong to.
From there, three options, depending on how hands-on you want to be:
DIY Export Kit ($5.99) — one organized file of all the entries, chapters, and photos. You keep it, print it, or hand it to a writer of your choice.
Draft Autobiography ($59.99) — your parent's entries organized into chapters and edited into a book-format PDF, with revisions. A keepsake you can print or gift.
Full-Service Book (live price) — all of that, plus a custom-designed, premium-printed, bound book delivered to your door. This is the one that becomes the object your family passes down. Get your exact price in seconds on the live pricing page.
Photos are what turn a record into a memory. Attach them as you go, and use our checklist for where to find family photos to pull in the album, shoebox, and digital shots. In the book, each story sits with its image.
Because it won't wait. A life story is one of the few things that can only be gathered from the person living it. You don't have to be a writer, and you don't have to do it all at once — a few gentle sessions, the photos, and a book to hold. That's the whole gift.
The practical answers, before you start.
Yes. Once the memories are captured and organized in Lifestream, the Full-Service Book turns them into a printed, bound book delivered to your door. The Draft Autobiography is a middle step — a book-format PDF you can print or gift.
The Full-Service Book is priced live based on the size, paper, page count, and destination country — you get your exact price in seconds on the live pricing page, quoted in USD and charged in PHP. The Draft Autobiography is a one-time $59.99, and the DIY Export Kit is $5.99.
Yes. Any photos you attach to the memories you capture are carried into the book, so each story sits with the image that belongs to it.
A step-by-step way to sit down with a parent and capture their story without it feeling like a project.
RelatedThe practical method: short sessions, good questions, and a real record of a life.
RelatedEvery place your family's photos are hiding, plus how to pick and caption them for a book.
No install, no account, no writing. Open the free web app and capture the first memory while it's still warm.